robots

Shooting down Star Wars as a vehicle for exploring human relationships with future technologies

Into the ongoing fight between those who dismiss Star Wars as a shallow space opera vs. those who who would elevate the movies to a position of broader significance (so-called hard science fiction) strolls Jeremy Hsu, who points out:

Regardless of writer-director Rian Johnson’s intentions for “The Last Jedi,” his story transformed the adorable robotic sidekick into a murder droid with a will of its own. That would normally have huge implications in a science fiction story that wants to seriously explore a coherent and logical futuristic world setting. But like most Star Wars filmmakers, Johnson generally seems satisfied with merely creating an illusion of familiar technology that delivers cool visual storytelling, even if that leaves some of the bigger questions on the table.

Insert mic drop emoji here, I guess.

Internet Awesomeness Diagram By Matthew Batchelder

Above, Matthew Batchelder’s diagram showing the correct relationship of the internet, awesomeness, ninjas, pirates, dinosaurs, zombies, robots, and Gummi Bears (though, where are the superheros you might ask). Gummi Bears, awesomeness, chart, diagram, dinosaurs, matthew batchelder, ninjas, pirates, robots, the internet, zombies » about 100 words

Humanoid Robots Are Eerie

My friend Troy pointed out a while ago that the more “realistic” our 3-d models of humans get, the scarier they look. Apparently it applies to robots to, at least judging by the “actroid” above. Maybe I better put How To Survive a Robot Uprising closer to the top of my reading list. More at […] » about 100 words

How To Survive a Robot Uprising

So there I am trying to read things I can’t possible read and I stumble across a link to Daniel H. Wilson’s How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion. From th Amazon book description: How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and […] » about 400 words